PF03
Impact of Keeping Health and Other Types of Insurance in MS
For working age adults, access to personal insurance, including health (HI), short- and long-term disability income (STD, LTD), long-term care (LTC), and life insurance (LI), is often employer-based or purchased out of pocket. Concerns about maintaining insurance among people with MS, and the physical, emotional, and social impact of this accumulated experience are not well understood.
Objectives:
Assess impact of maintaining insurance coverage in persons with MS.
Methods:
Persons diagnosed with MS, US residents, ages 18-65, were surveyed through the National MS Society, the North American Research Committee on MS (NARCOMS), and iConquerMS, regarding the current types of insurances and the impact of maintaining coverage. Results are presented as percent (%), Mean (SD).
Results:
2507 eligible respondents completed survey information regarding their current insurance status. Respondents had a mean age of 53.5(8.5) years, were 3.8% African American, 82.9% Caucasian, 3.8% Hispanic/Latino, and 91.2% female, with a mean disease duration of 16.4 (8.5) years. Among those who reported having at least one type of insurance, the majority had HI (96.3%) and LI (58.8%), while fewer had STD (18.1%), LTD (35.9%) or LTC (9.7%). Only 3.0% had all types. A majority (56.5%) of respondents who had HI expressed some concern about maintaining that coverage, while the majority of those with other insurances indicated no concerns about maintaining those coverages (77.5% STD, 73.3% LI, 71.8% LTC, 68.7% LTD). Approximately 2/3 of all respondents reported some level of emotional, physical, family, or financial burden related to maintaining the insurances they have. Financial burden was largest impact for HI (26.2%), LTC (12.4%) and LI (8.9%). Emotional Distress was the largest impact for STD (6.1%) and LTD (12.1%). Respondents with higher levels of disability reported higher levels of physical problems and financial concerns resulting from concern about maintaining HI.
Conclusions:
The majority of respondents had HI and LI but far fewer had insurances that would provide income and care if they became more disabled. More than half of those with HI were concerned about maintaining coverage. The relatively low level of concern expressed about maintaining STD, LTD and LTC may reflect an important lack of understanding about what these coverages provide.